We had yet another near no-hitter last night in a season on pace for 15 or 20 no-hitters. Home runs are down, but so are balls in play in total, with strikeouts mounting. When balls are put in play, they aren’t turning into hits any more often. And for some reason that may or may not be baseball-related, hit by pitches are up.
It’s possible an adjustment period is in order with the new baseball, and that hitters will need to pivot away from fly balls and into line drives to make things work. It’s possible that will accompany a refocusing on contact, which might in turn help the strikeout situation. It’s possible Major League Baseball will just drop the mound or move it back after this season and give hitters a chance to catch back up, like they did way back when. But for the moment, the experimental baseballs (which aren’t being treated like an experiment over in an independent league Major League Baseball uses for other experiments) are having problems. So, with everything else Rob Manfred’s done in his time as baseball commissioner, I think it’s fair to say this:
There’s something wrong with Rob Manfred’s balls.
